Pause seen in Wall Street rally

IN THE NEWS TODAY

Stock index futures point to modest losses at the Wall Street open following a Wednesday rally that saw the Nasdaq post its highest close of 2016 and the S&P 500 register a rise of more than 1 percent. The Nasdaq is on track to post its seventh weekly gain in eight weeks, while the Dow and S&P 500 are still modestly negative for the week. (CNBC)

The U.S. Treasury intends to send to the White House a long-delayed rule that would compel banks to seek information about holders of shell company accounts. The move comes after the leak of 11.5 million documents — the so-called "Panama Papers" — detailed how the wealthy shelter money in offshore vehicles. (Reuters)

Authorities said an exploding Takata airbag killed a teenage driver in Houston after the 2002 Honda Civic the girl was driving rear-ended another vehicle. The incident brings the number of U.S. deaths from the defective airbags to 10. (AP)

BY THE NUMBERS

The Labor Department will release its weekly look at initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists expecting 268,000 new claims for the week ending April 2. That would be down from the prior week's 276,000.

The government is also set to release February consumer credit data at 3 p.m. ET.

The Energy Department is out with its weekly look at natural gas inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A rare gathering of past and present Federal Reserve chairs takes place tonight in New York at 5:30 p.m. ET, with Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, and Paul Volcker all present for an event titled "When The Federal Reserve Speaks … the World Listens."

STOCKS TO WATCH

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.85 per share, 4 cents above estimates. Revenue was also slightly above Wall Street forecasts, and the company also announced a new quarterly dividend of 12-1/2 cents per share.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) struck an agreement with loan holders to amend the terms of its debt, according to Dow Jones. The drugmaker's shares are coming off their best two-day percentage gain in 20 years, although they are still down more than 80 percent over the past 12 months.

McDonald's (MCD) chairman Andrew McKenna will not run for re-election to the board when the restaurant chain holds its annual meeting May 26. McKenna has been chairman for 12 years and a board member for 25 years.

Sprint (S) will sell $3 billion in equipment to new entities, which will then lease the equipment back to Sprint. The arrangement will allow the mobile services company to obtain a cash infusion with better terms than it might get in the debt market.

Lexmark (LXK) is in talks to be bought by China-based ink cartridge chipmaker Apex Technology, according to Reuters. The printer and imaging systems maker had sought bids in the past, but did not receive offers to its liking.

WATERCOOLER

Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard died on Wednesday at the age of 79. The septuagenarian singer kept up a busy touring schedule until falling ill with and eventually succumbing to pneumonia. (AP)